Born With Silver Moon

Marva Wright's albums might be filed more often under the blues section than any other, but in truth she's a versatile singer of all forms of New Orleans R&B, venturing into gospel and soul as well. There's no faulting her vocal performances on Born with the Blues; their powerful gutsiness marks her as one of the best blues/R&B singers to emerge in the final decades of the 20th century. It's the material that makes this an uneven record, though a worthwhile one on the whole. Some of the songs are quite good, the title track being a particular highlight for both its minor-keyed melody and vocals with a lived-in intensity that was a rare commodity indeed in '90s blues records. "Pray" is another peak, both for its moody gospel melody and stellar backup by Sonny Landreth on slithering slide guitar…

Although the cover art might suggest that this compiles, features, or in some way includes material from Michael Nesmith's four-year (1966-1970) tenure as a Monkee, this isn't the case at all. Additionally confusing matters is that the same 25 tracks on this collection are replicated – right down to the exact running order – on the unimaginatively titled Best Of: Original Hits. Regardless, the contents of both have been culled from Nesmith's first half-dozen post-Monkees long-players. The tune stack is well represented by the First National Band LPs Magnetic South (1970), Loose Salute (1970), and Nevada Fighter (1971) – plus, to a much lesser extent, Tantamount to Treason (1972), And the Hits Just Keep on Comin' (1972), as well as Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash (1973).

A year after his impressionistic, critically-lauded ECM debut Into The Silence, trumpeter Avishai Cohen s Cross My Palm With Silver introduces a program of new pieces which put the focus on the ensemble, on teamwork, with a quartet of the highest caliber. The adroit, almost telepathic interplay among the musicians allows Avishai Cohen to soar, making it clear why he is one of the most talked-about jazz musicians on the contemporary scene. All of these people together are my dream team , says the charismatic trumpeter of fellow players Yonathan Avishai, Barak Mori and Nasheet Waits, who share his sense for daring improvisation and his feeling for structure. I feel we're in a perfect place with the balance. It's open and there s so much room for the improvisation to take the music any place we can.